1/27/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University Director of Media Productions Paul Ladwig and two Athens campus students will have front-row seats for freestyle skiing events at the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. That's because they're working in the venue for CBS Sports.
Ladwig will be one of two or three hand-held camera operators for freestyle skiing events while junior Joe Inderhees and senior Paul Podraza will handle equipment and wiring duties. The three leave Saturday (Jan. 31) and return to campus Feb. 22, the last day of the Games. The Olympics open Feb. 6.
"To be able to go to the Olympics for the first time, to go to a country I've never been to, and to see and work with the latest technology, that's going to be fun," said Ladwig, who for four years has directed the university's Media Productions unit that produces professional videos for clients on and off campus.
The opportunity resulted from Ladwig's work with Woody Freiman, a free-lance producer hired by CBS to oversee the production team for freestyle skiing coverage. Ladwig has known Freiman for years, and the two work together on Ohio Sports Network (OSN) projects at the university.
Ladwig will operate a camera for the two freestyle skiing events: aerials and moguls. Besides the eight days of competition, Ladwig also will shoot practice and qualifying runs.
"When you shoot an event like this, you end up shooting almost everything because you never know when something's going to happen," Ladwig said.
The three will be among 40 to 50 crew members in the venue.
"I was so blown away my feet didn't touch the ground for two weeks," said Inderhees, a broadcast journalism major from Cincinnati. He'll serve in a position called a utility at the Games, handling wiring and cable needs and moving equipment within the freestyle skiing venue.
"My goal is to be in front of the camera someday, but this is giving me great background in the production of a major sports event," said Inderhees, who does play-by-play for OSN radio broadcasts of Ohio University women's basketball games and is a utility for men's basketball telecasts. "The experience of being there and getting to work with the best equipment and the best talent in the industry, it's phenomenal."
Podraza, a video productions major from Poland, Ohio, is unfazed by predictions of long, cold days on the job.
"Bring it on," said Podraza, who's doing an internship with WTVS-TV this quarter in Nashville. "I understand that it's going to be grunt work, and that when we do work they're going to be 12- and 15-hour days. I'm willing to survive on three or four hours sleep to experience what goes on at the Olympics." Podraza will work as a camera assist, meaning he will set up, dismantle and check camera equipment.
The three will share their experiences through class presentations when they return to campus.
Ladwig, who has saved up vacation time for the trip, has worked both in television news and sports divisions in Phoenix, Ariz., and Greensboro, N.C. While his duties now are primarily as an administrator and producer, he's still willing to hoist a 21-pound camera on his shoulder -- especially for the Olympics.
CBS plans to air freestyle skiing on Saturday, Feb. 7; Wednesday, Feb. 11; Monday, Feb. 16; and live on Tuesday, Feb. 17.